New CHA and some new awesome news!!!!

HOLY COW!!!! I can't even tell you how much stuff I am rolling around in right now!!! LOL! I am up to my ears in Cosmo Cricket and Prima!!! I have been working non-stop for a week now trying to finish all my stuff to ship off in the next few days!!! :D Have you all been keeping up to date with the new CHA 2010 reveals from my two fav manufacturers?

If not, have no fear for I will fill you in! LOL!

These are the new lines from Cosmo Cricket! And under each title is my fav paper from each release!

And here are some of the new Ready Set Chip alphas!!! Love these ones! I got to play with the first two here!

And I am incredibly excited about these!!! Love love love! Especially the little words on the bottom of every sheet! Yay!

And now for Prima!!! OMgosh I can't say enough amazing things about everything!

Here is my fav collection!
With this one being my fav paper! Gahhhh I'm drooling. LOL
And totally in love with the pebbles too!


They came out with some new Times alphas and can't even begin to tell you how excited about that I am!!!
And new crocheted trims that are to die for!

This is my fav stamp:Chicken Wire! :D You may be thinking What?!! But I see sooo many possibilities!
A few of my fav flowers from the release!

And some amazing leaves that are for sure going to be staples in my stash forever!
And these Say It In Pearls that are absolutely stunning!!! Those little roses are so delicate!

I will be sharing soon all the work that I have done with all the of new CHA releases! But until then I have some other exciting news to share! :D

A little bit ago I received an email from Michelle Hill who runs the fabulous Polka Dot Whimsy kit club, asking me if I would like to be on their Design Team!! I was thrilled! And very flattered! It was the first time I had ever been asked to join a team without applying! LOL! Of course I said yes! And today the newsletter announcement went out revealing the new DT!!! :D I am so excited to be working with such amazingly talented girls!! Definitely check out the newsletter announcement! And it also gives a sneak peek at the February kit!! (which should arrive on my door on Tuesday!) I can't wait to get started!!! Thank you so so much to Michelle for giving me the opportunity to be a part of this team! And also you should check out the new Ning site that has been set up for PDW! We already have some challenges up and a guessing game to try and figure out who the Guest Designer is for February! (Your gonna love her! I know I do! :D ) I look forward to getting to know you all on the new site!

Well I will be back in a few days with some shares!!! Let me know what your fav releases are, I would love to hear! Take care!

~Amy

Happy New Year!!!

A few days late I know! :P Hasn't it been a great year so far?!!! hehe. Things have been great here. Christmas was great. New Year's was great. (Although the day after was a little tough. I never ever drink and I had had a few glasses of Champagne to celebrate. And woke the next morn to something I vowed I would never feel again. A hangover. LOL!) But Jed tried so hard to make that day a good day for me, so it wasn't so bad a day afterall. :D

Well I didn't do it last year (cause I didn't know about it yet!) and told myself I would do it this year, so here you have it! My top fav LOs from 2009! People are doing top 12 or top 10 or so, and I tried to do that but I just couldn't because I had too many favs! So I just went with that. Here are my top 21! In no particular order:

Just Be Me mini album challenge over at LilyBee paper company (which I won second place for!). I love this album. I worked so hard on it. And it was the first time I had used my Martha Stewart punches and I had a blast with them! (the images below are all before I added my journaling in the book)



This LO is one of my favs ever! I used a Pencil Lines sketch (#120) and my Studio Calico February kit! This LO was about how my daughter still was not talking, and how I wished she could.



This LO here was pure therapy for me. It is again using my February kit from Studio Calico. Here is the original post where I talked a bit more about the LO. This still remains my fav LO.



And here is the first two pager I ever did! I was so happy with myself that I made it work! Hehe! Still love so very much how it turned out! :D



This is one of the simplest LOs I have ever done, but I love it. Love it love it. :D


This little LO was magic that it came together as quickly as it did! Wish all my LOs could do that!

Here is the first LO I ever did for Prima! I was so so excited and honored and in disbelief that I had make the team, so this one will always have a special place in my heart. :D

I can't say enough about how much I love this LO.

Everytime I think about this LO, I start to cry. I miss my mom so much, and wish I could have said this to her.

My dear sweet husband. I love this picture of him, although he hates it! This is also one of my very very favs. Love the green colors mixed.

This LO is a recent one, so I'm sure you have seen it. But I can't get over how beautiful it turned out! I don't know that many other people think so, but I love the colors and textures and Oddbjorg's picture is just stunning! hmmm. :D This LO just makes me feel peaceful and relaxed.

This is an older LO, I made it for the Category Stories DT call. I was channeling my inner Alexis Hardy here. :D Love her work! And I had soooo much fun doing this LO! :D

A simple LO, but I love these pics of my sister and I. And this line was so perfect for them!

This is another one that I did for my Category Stories DT submission. And it is most certainly in my top 5 fav LOs! For the full story on this LO visit this blog post.

And Our Lil Pumpkin. Love this LO so much! She was so tiny! And this line by Cosmo Cricket was perfect for these pics! :D

My Cup Of Tea LO. :D It makes me so happy.

Can't tell you enough how much I am still in love with this little book! I need to add some more pages to it too! But I could just sit a stare at the cover all day.

Love the embellishment combinations that happened here. Such a super fun LO to do! Although looking at it right now, the inside lines look crooked? Anyone else see that? :P

Another recent one, but love it so much! The muted colors are superb! :D Makes me happy.

My sweet Creedence. This is my fav LO of her.

This LO totally describes how I have felt for quite a while now. :P But I love the colors on this LO. And the fleece shapes by American Crafts have been a staple in my stash since this LO.

And there you have it! Would you think me insane if I told you that that wasn't all of them?!! Some of my absolute ABSOLUTE favs are out for publication! Won't get them back til like March or something. And a few of them I have never even shown anyone before their publication! So I am really really excited to share them once they are published. :D

Well that is it from me right now. I will have some stuff very soon to show you, but right now I am super swamped under assignments! Can't tell you a thing yet, but I will have some sneaks on here from Prima in the next couple days! Prima actually already has a few sneaks on the blog right now! Pop on over there and check them out! I can't tell you enough how gorgeous they are! :D

Everyone take care! I will be back soon with fun stuff to share! Happy New Year!!!!

~Amy

My dearest kitty Thomas

I can't even believe how hard the decision I had to make today was. One of the saddest days I have had in a long time. Today, I lost my poor kitty. I had had Thomas for 16 years. He was the sweetest and most patient cat. So affectionate. He was found down the street from us and brought to us when he was just little. I have had so so so many cats come and go since him, but I have never been without him. Heck I haven't been without a cat since I was like 2 years old, so tomorrow will be very strange for me. And poor Creedence, one of her first words was Kitty. She loves Thomas so much, I am just very happy that she is only two and very easily distracted.

But he let us know in several ways that his time had come. It breaks your heart to know that there is nothing you can do for him, except let him go. I just wish I could hold him in my arms one more time. My dearest Thomas.

Some Prima shares.....

Hi! I only just looked (as I am writing this post) to see what date I last updated and HOLY COW! It was the 28th of October?! Really it doesn't seem like that long ago yet here we are more than a month later! :P Sorry. November is a busy month though! I always have lots going on because so many things happen in it. Birthdays (my aunt's, mine and my mom's), Thanksgiving, and both of those usually mean lots of family time, which means away from home, and of course away from blogging. :P And after holidays it is so hard to get back in the swing of things! Routines seem to just go right out the door. So we are slowly but surely getting back into things here in our home. And at the same time I am trying to get Christmas set up. I was going to do a December Daily this year but I am not so sure that will happen now. I am working on one, but as far as filling it up, that will just have to happen next year. :P LOL! But we are beginning some holiday traditions, as this is the first year my daughter will really be able to understand any of it. She is going to have her first taste of Christmas bread, which my mom made all the time when I was a child, and she had powdered sugar toast, (only a little!) but again another thing I had when I was little and remember as good times. Also we are going to watch some great Christmas movies that I know she will enjoy: A Christmas Story and Charlie Brown Christmas. That should be fun! :D I am still in the process of coming up with some other things that I know she will enjoy. But I am also working on decorating!!! I really don't have any ornaments or decorations, and instead of going and spending a whole lot of money on things Jed only likes to have up like 4 days of the year, I thought I would make some. I am working on a huge post about all whole bunch of things I am thinking of, and will have that up in the next few days. There are some really fantastic things out there right now! But I made my first few things the other day, and they are on the Prima blog!

Here are a few little tags I made! I really am not entirely sure what I will do with them, but I like the way they look! So maybe they will just kinda sit there? :P I used a ton of teeny tiny little scraps of paper I had (both Prima and vintage things). So it was great because that reduced the amount of little things I had laying around!!! :D

This first one, which was the first one I made, is so stinkin busy it is a little dizzying. But I had fun doing the mounds of layering and adding this and that!

Supplies: Paper-Prima Paradise City "Sunrise" (red border), Prima Rue 88 "Rendezvous" (left green strip),
Prima Christmas Fancy "Joy" (paper poinsettia), Prima Tropics "Turtle Dove" (tiny piece behind paper poinsettia), vintage book paper, doily (Michael's), Fancy Pants (Kraft tag), Prima packaging (green circle behind snowflake); Embellishments-Prima Raja Center in Red, Chatterbox corkboard (punched with a MS punch), Prima First Blush rub on (Michael's exclusive-rubbed onto paper and the attached to tag), Making Memories Misteltoe Acetate diecut tree, Prima 4 Seasons leaves, Prima laces/ribbons-Jaqueline, Lace C (silver loop), Red velvet ribbon, white chenille trim (Nursery Tales from Michael's exclusive), All Night Media stamp (tiny dots), Prima Red Center kisses, Maya Road Pearl pin, K and Co red felt flower, Making Memories ledger journaling sticker, Making Memories Diva glitter letters in white, Making Memories Vintage Findings crystal pin, Prima Holiday Lights Bright Mix (teal poinsettia); Tools and Other-Tulle (Michael's), Martha Stewart 1 in Starburst punch, Martha Stewart 1 in Circle punch, sewing machine, stapler

And this one has got to be my fav of the bunch. :D It turned out so much better than I ever could have imagined! Just strips of this and that, adhered with a gel medium and they are good to go! This one sits on the mantle in the living room.

Supplies: Paper-Prima paintables (just random strips), Prima Paradise City "Sunrise" (red bit on the left), Flirty Little Secret "Memoirs" (darker green and lighter green), Kraft chipboard packaging (random), K and Co Amy Butler Lotus Tea Box Die cuts (measure on right side), Prima Chrismas Fancy selvedge edge, Prima teal packaging, Prima Animal Bash "Tickled" (punched snowflakes), vintage book paper, Cream cardstock, doily (Michael's); Embellishments-Dress It Up Glittered Snowflake buttons, Prima Burlap sheet (unraveled some of the threads and stitched them on), Prima Laces-Nikki, Silver loop, White Chenille trim, Prima Center Kisses in White, tulle (Michael's), Making Memories Mistletoe Acetate sentiment; Tools-Stapler, sewing machine, Martha Stewart Arctic Snowflake punch, Martha Stewart Alpine Snowflake punch, Martha Stewart 1 inch Starburst punch, Marvy 1 1/2 inch Scallop Circle punch

And of course, this is my second fav, and the last one I did. Funny how they got simpler and simpler the more I did. I guess that first one really did get me with being so cluttered! :P Lol! On this one I had wanted the burlap tree to have some of the red print on it to be a part of the tree, but I am not sure what I did wrong, but happened to place my tree template, when tracing, in the exact spots where no red was painted on? No clue. But I thought it just seemed meant to be. Who knows, if some of the red had been on it, then maybe that would have been too much red on that little tag? :D Anyway, to get the even cut that I did, I first painted the backside of the burlap sheet with gel medium, to get it stiff, and the traced the tree and cut it out. That way it doesn't fray! :D Everything else with this little tag came together rather quickly. I cut strips of Prima Paintables and adhered them to the outside of the tag and then, when they all dried, I used my Provo Craft mini scallop deco scissors to create a little border around the outside.

Supplies: Paper-Cream Cardstock, Prima Christmas Fancy "Happy", Prima Christmas Fancy "Joy", Prima Angelique, Prima packaging, doily (Michael's), vintage book paper; Embellishments- Prima Say It In Pearls Centers Rosy (used individual pearls for the tree), Prima Say It In Pearls Swirl in White (used individual pearls for the stars), Prima 4 Seasons leaves, Prima Holiday Lights Mix Poinsettia, Martha Stewart Baker's Twine in red and white, Dress It Up Glittered Snowflake button, Making Memories Mistletoe Acetate sentiment, tulle (Michael's); Tools-Sewing Machine, Marvy 1 1/2 inch Scallop Circle punch, Martha Stewart 1 inch Starburst punch, Martha Stewart Star Confetti punch

And this is the garland that I made! :D I am in love with it soooo much! I have seen these a million and a half places online as of late, and kept telling myself I was going to make one! And I did! It was so stinkin easy too! I have no clue how long this measures but it goes across my entire front window with lots to spare! I can't photograph it inside because the lighting in my house is a joke. Even during the day. :P So I took it outside and had a not so easy time with it there too. It was very windy. I mean really windy. But I had to get the pics so I just worked with it. hehe. It took me two nights to make this. I spent the first night punching everything out and then sticking the little snowflakes where I wanted with gel medium, then on the second night I sewed it all up (which took all of about 10 minutes in total to sew this string). As you can see in pics below I did quite a bit of layering on some of the pieces, while others are just a plain piece. I stuck with a particular color scheme, and none of the papers are Christmas themed, but I think it still turned out pretty festive. :D

Supplies: Paper-Prima Paintables (random bits big enough to punch 1 inch circles), Prima Flirty Little Secrets "Memoirs", Prima Animal Bash "Tickled", Animal Bash "Animal Babble", Prima Tropics "Mango Cherries", Prima Tropics "Celery Splash", Prima Tropics "Turtle Dove", Prima Packaging, vintage book pages (text and print), Cream cardstock, Starbucks corrugated cardboard drink sleeve

Tools/other-Martha Stewart 1 inch circle punch, Martha Stewart 1 inch Starburst punch, Martha Stewart 1 inch scallop circle punch, Martha Stewart Alpine snowflake punch, Martha Stewart Arctic snowflake punch, Martha Stewart Star Confetti punch, Marvy 1 1/2 inch scallop punch, white acrylic paint

Now last but not least~The December BAP!!! Goodness I can not even tell you how much fun this was!! The girls on the DT all swaped photos, none of us knowing who got your own pic! So when the post went up, we were finally able to see who got to scrap our own pic! :D I got the wonderful Oddbjorg Ringsby! Her photos were so beautiful! She sent me three, and I wanted to use them all, but I stayed with the sketch, and chose one. I can't tell you how hard it was to choose just one! :D This layout came together the fastest that I have ever had happen!!! Don't you just love it when it all comes together like that! It makes you feel so productive! hehe! I had it all glued down (well except for the embies) by bed time and then woke up the next morn and sewed it up and glued the flowers and such on and presto! And I am in love with it. The color scheme is a bit different but I can't stop looking at those colors! (I think the fact that these products were all new to me helped a bit with sparking creativity!) And just so you know the photo of her I uploaded into Rollip.com to get that fabulous look! :D Still hopelessly addicted to that site. :P

Supplies: Paper- Prima Paradise City "Fruity Jungle", Prima Blooming Retro "Pumpkin Pie", Prima Blooming Retro "Origami Gardens", Prima Blooming Retro "Apple Tree", Prima Donna Downey Canvas Sheet in Teal, Prima Breathe collection paper, Prima packaging

Embies-Prima Parlor Petals Dusty Rose, Prima Moulin Rouge Colette, Prima Donna Downey Embroidered Canvas tab-Create, Prima Mommy and Me pebble, Prima 4 Seasons leaves, Prima E line Pearls Olive, Prima First Blush Flower (Michael's exclusive), Prima Raja Centers brown, Prima Raja Centers Olive, Prima Say It In Pearls and Crystals swirl Maroon, Whispered Words Flocked Alpha brown

Well that is all that I have for you now!!! I am busy busy busy trying to get some other things done-scrappy and not scrappy!!! :P This time of year is so crazy! You try to play super big catch up before CHA comes around, while also trying to decorate and be in the moment with the holiday season! And this year we are going to be hosting a Christmas dinner at our house for the first time! I am super nervous and am working around the clock getting my decorations done and such and the house clean! And like I said at the top of the post, I don't have any decorations so I am working hard on making them! :D I will do an update post once I am done. But before that I will be doing a post on all the things that are inspiring me with my decorations!!! There is a lot of awesome stuff out there! If you have any homemade decoration ideas to share, I would love to hear them! :D Hope everyone is well!!! Take care!

~Amy